


Legacies

by ftld



Series: FF7 One-Shots [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24573004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ftld/pseuds/ftld
Summary: Cloud is determined to do right by Denzel and Marlene, even if he has to tell them all his nightmares. [Post-ACC]
Series: FF7 One-Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776133
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	Legacies

**Author's Note:**

> Today I am the master of my WIP folder, and not the other way around! No beta.

Legacies

The cliff is a permanent fixture in Cloud's memory. Countless times he's stared out at the sprawling wastes threatening to devour the ruins of Midgar, lost in recollections of smog floating over the plates, or the towering Shinra building, ominous and dark, reaching for the clouds above. Comparing what's in front of him to his memory for too long always makes the sky appear darker, brings phantom raindrops falling on his face alongside the urge to wipe them off immediately. Cloud still feels the dirt, saturated with blood and bullets, caking the knees of his stolen uniform. The cloying scent of gunpowder lingers on the breeze, years after those final shots were fired.

Cloud blinks and squeezes his eyes closed for a full ten seconds before opening them again. Marlene and Denzel stare back with hesitant curiosity. It's interesting—Denzel is only now starting to lose his skepticism, only for Marlene to begin learning it. They don't know what to make of this place; why there's a familiar sword impaled on the cliff's edge or why Cloud can't look directly at it. Instead, he is focused solely on the pair of children standing in the exact spot he once did, long ago. He wonders if the attention is just as strange to them as the setting.

There's an eerie charge of static in the air. The hairs on the back of Cloud's neck prickle with anticipation. This decision was a long time coming; it sparked on a rainy night mere weeks after he'd come back home, and has been growing exponentially in the months since. His relationship with Denzel and Marlene is broken. Cloud took it for granted and then smashed it to pieces when he left, because he wasn't truly thinking about what was best for them. It's improving, they're rebuilding trust, but Cloud doesn't want to work back to what they had before—he wants to build something stronger. It's time to finish picking up the pieces, time to do right by Denzel and Marlene, no matter how hard it is.

In the days since finding his resolve, he'd considered what he should say—and more importantly, what he should not. There are parts to his story that he's reluctant to share, and details he's sure are not appropriate for young ears—but there are also concerns he must be aware of that aren't factors with anyone else. With his friends it's a matter of what he is and is not willing to share at war with their curiosity; with Denzel and Marlene, he must strike a careful balance between what they need from him and what they can stomach.

It's not until the three of them are standing in a loose arc around Zack's sword that Cloud finally makes his decision. The kids need honesty and mutual trust; Cloud will tell them everything.

"There is something important that I have to explain to you both, about me." Cloud squats to bring himself to eye-level with Marlene and takes a long, searching look at the two of them. "About me, and about why I put this sword here, if that's okay."

"It's the one you used to fight with, right?" Marlene has always been bold.

Cloud nods. "Yes, but it wasn't always mine."

"Where'd you get it?" Denzel asks, hands clasped behind his back and weight on his heels. Not long ago, Cloud didn't recognize the behavior—but he knows now, and he's determined to show Denzel that asking questions is always okay, no matter what they are or how he thinks Cloud might react.

"The man who saved my life gave it to me. I want you to know that I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad, okay? It's just…" Cloud never has been good at putting his feelings into words—he practiced this speech a hundred times in his head and it still sounds like it's coming out wrong—but he takes a slow breath and presses on. This is something he _has_ to do. "We're family: the both of you, me, and Tifa. We didn't start that way, but that's what we became, and I'm thankful for it. We all have a story for how we came together—I know yours already, so here's mine."

The kids' nods are saturated in identical airs of bravery, but their shuffling feet kick up puffs of dirt and betray their nerves. Denzel keeps shifting his weight side-to-side, struggling with a fight or flight instinct he doesn't understand yet, even if he's had more practice with it than most kids his age. Marlene fidgets by drawing little lines beneath her with the toe of her shoe. Cloud takes a moment to appreciate how alike the two have grown before diving into the nightmare he'd never wanted to speak of again.

He starts at Nibelheim, before everything went wrong, when he was just a couple years older than Denzel. There's a false sense of security in the easier parts of his history that settle over the three of them. Cloud rationalizes it as necessary background, but in reality, he's trying to buy time. Still, Marlene and Denzel never had the opportunity to hear these little anecdotes about Tifa when she was a teenager; or stories about Cloud's mother. They're happy memories, but they've been locked away by all the bad ones that came after.

The relative safety falls apart the instant Shinra is mentioned. Denzel and Marlene don't know much, but they know enough for the name Shinra to chill them straight to the bone. Mostly, for this part, he speaks of Zack. Cloud shares what feels like every memory he has of the man. He walks through his early days at Shinra: how Zack had taken him under his wing; the way they bonded over their backwater hometowns; and late-night squat competitions so competitive, even the cheating evolved rules to keep it from getting too out of hand.

And then, when he comes full-circle back to Nibelheim, everything falls apart. It's a gruesome tale, no matter how much he tries to clean it up, and there's less editing than there should be right up until he gets to Hojo. Cloud doesn't remember much of that time in his life, and there's no chance he'd speak of the details. The impact of those events translates well, though, and Cloud winds up tripping over himself to clarify points once it becomes apparent that Denzel and Marlene's imaginations are filling in blanks best left forgotten.

Explaining the years after is more emotional than Cloud prepared for, though he'd accepted this would be the hardest part for him. He still has trouble comprehending the depths of Zack's endless heroism that landed them on this same cliff. The words catch in his throat and he struggles to keep from staring at the ground where Buster Sword stands. Cloud isn't sure if he'll ever be strong enough to be worthy of Zack's shadow.

Marlene is in tears by the end and Denzel's not far behind, though he's trying to hide it. There's a slow ache spreading through Cloud's legs from his crouched position, but the discomfort is shoved to the back of his mind, behind more important things like how the kids are handling this.

"How could they—" Marlene hiccups and rubs her fists under her eyes. "I don't understand."

Cloud kneels in the dirt, crushing phantom casings and slugs beneath him, and sweeps Marlene's hands away before wiping her tears with a gentler touch. Just next to her, the rage simmering in Denzel's clenched fists is all too familiar. It's a troubling thing, seeing his own angry glare on a child's face. Not too long ago Cloud wouldn't have thought much of it. He'd assume it was a phase, that Denzel would grow past all that hostility at his own pace, but Cloud's starting to be capable of recognizing wishful thinking for what it is. He's learning that this is part of his responsibility to Denzel.

Like the desire to be a better guardian drove Cloud to tell his painful story out in the wastes, his need to be proactive for once in his life has his limbs moving before he can decide what to do. Cloud loops one arm around Marlene's back and uses the other to pull Denzel to his side. The hug is awkward, but Marlene nuzzles against the collar of his shirt and Denzel's angry fists loosen up as he hugs back.

"It's okay to be upset over it—I still am—but it's over. It's done. All we can do is move on. I'm sorry it took me so long to learn that, but I'm caught up, now."

"You promise?" Marlene asks, her face still buried in his collar. "Th-they're gone now? The bad people? And you're okay?"

"Yeah, I promise."

Not a moment later, Denzel loses the battle to hold back his tears. Timid and quiet, Denzel manages to get a question out between his sobs. "How do you get over something like that?"

For once, Cloud's smile feels warm and safe—an instinctual curve of his lips that he knows is right. He tightens his arms around the small bodies pressed to his chest. "In the end, it was easy: I have you."

Cloud is careful to let Marlene and Denzel sort themselves out at their own pace. Once Denzel has pulled away, he adjusts his grip and stands with Marlene. She turns her head to the side so her cheek is rested against him; her breathing slows. Cloud figures it's a fifty-fifty split whether she'll fall asleep or get a second wind.

The blade in front of him is blunt and rusted; Cloud pokes a finger into the upper materia slot and a clump of dirt the size of an egg comes tumbling out the other side. It is shameful that he let such a beautiful weapon be rendered tame by neglect. Zack entrusted all his hopes and dreams to him, and Cloud abandoned them the moment he could, because he felt crushed under the weight. He's still not strong enough to bear it, but two months ago, on a quiet and stormy night, Tifa finally got it through his skull that he doesn't have to do this alone. Cloud wraps his fingers around the hilt and with a gentle tug, Zack's sword is free.

"What are we going to do with it?" Marlene asks, and this is another question Cloud knows the correct answer to.

"We're taking it back with us. I thought putting it here would honor Zack's memory somehow; that if I left it as a tribute to him, he'd be put to rest and I could move on. But Zack… he wouldn't have wanted this." Cloud is certain of it. "So, let's take his sword home with us, clean it up, and lay him to rest where he'd want to be. We'll do it together, and when we're done he can be at peace, with Aerith."

"I think she'd like that. She has her flowers, but what if she's been lonely?" Marlene takes a subtle turn toward suspicious. "But I don't think she's so lonely she wants you to live in the church again, okay?"

Cloud chuckles and Marlene wriggles for him to let her down. Her resilience never fails to impress. "I think Aerith wants me right where I am, at home, with you and Tifa."

"What was she like?" Denzel wonders. The moment Cloud gets Marlene's feet on solid ground he reaches out to ruffle Denzel's hair in the fond way he's becoming accustomed to—because this is a question that has been simmering for months now, and Cloud wants Denzel to know that this, too, is okay to ask.

"Come on, let's get some food and I'll tell you all about her. I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to buy you ice cream after traumatizing you." They've got to be starving by now.

"You don't have to," Denzel mumbles at the same moment Marlene squeals. "Ice cream?!"

Denzel turns his head to the side and hisses. "Remember what Tifa told Yuffie? We're not supposed to make unreasonable demands!"

Cloud manages to stifle his amusement long enough to say, "It's not demanding if I'm offering. Besides, you should know by now that we have special rules, just for Yuffie. They don't always apply to everyone."

This time, Cloud hefts the weight of the Buster Sword on his shoulder, instead of dragging it behind him in the dirt. He holds his head high as the kids sprint for the truck, breathless words shot between them as Marlene starts in on her hazy memories of Aerith between Denzel's relentless questions. This place—this cliff overlooking salvation just out of reach—it doesn't need to stand as a graveyard anymore. No, this cliff is where legacies are passed.


End file.
